Uganda

Uganda is a major destination for refugees and asylum seekers fleeing conflict or instability from neighbouring countries including South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia and Rwanda.

According to UNHCR, there were a total of 665,040 refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda as of 31 August 2016, with approximately 50% originating from South Sudan.

The power struggle and conflict between the government and opposition forces in South Sudan in December 2013 led to massive displacement of South Sudanese nationals into neighbouring countries, with the largest number fleeing to Uganda.

Renewed conflict in South Sudan in July 2016 has led to an influx of an estimated 163,540 South Sudanese refugees into Uganda as of September 2016 with daily arrival rates averaging 1,678 individuals.

According to UNHCR, 68% of the new arrivals are children below the age of 18 years, 89% of the new arrivals are women and children, with the elderly accounting for 2% of total arrivals.

Uganda is a country of origin for people in mixed migration even though to a lesser extent compared to some of the neighbouring countries in the Great Lakes, Eastern and Horn of Africa region.

The US Department of State’s 2016 Trafficking in Persons report places Uganda on Tier 2. According to the report, Uganda is a source, transit and destination country for men, women and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking.

As a mixed migration origin country

Uganda is a country of origin for people in mixed migration even though to a lesser extent compared to some of the neighbouring countries in the Great Lakes, Eastern and Horn of Africa region. According to IOM (1), the key drivers of emigration from Uganda includes: (a) high population growth rate of 3.2% per annum (total population estimated to be 38.8 million in 2014) and a bulging youth population with 78% of the population below age of 30 (b) high youth unemployment rate of 62% which is considered one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa (c) lack of attractive employment options especially in the health sector, and not least (d), ownership of natural resources (land) which is skewed in favor of the older generation, which leaves the youth with limited or no access to productive resources. In addition, Uganda is considered to have a very high dependency ratio of 102 in 2015 (population aged 0-14 and over 65 to the total population aged 15-64) due to its young population, high fertility rate estimated at 5.7 children per woman (2015) and high population growth rate that generates about 700,000 new labour market entrants every year, adding to the migratory pressure.(2)

Data on emigrant stocks and outflow of Ugandan nationals obtained from the World Bank, indicate that there are an estimated 406,193 Ugandans in the diaspora.(3) Most Ugandans migrate to neighbouring countries in particular Kenya and South Sudan and other African countries while significant numbers have also been recorded in Europe and North America. Labour migration especially to the Middle East is facilitated by private recruitment agencies operating in Uganda. Many Ugandan men have been recruited to work as private security guards in countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar.(4) The size of the Ugandan diaspora could be much higher with other sources indicating it can be as high as 3 million.(5)

Uganda’s diaspora disaggregated by country (2016)

Source: World Bank, 2016

Ugandan nationals have been recorded applying for asylum in Kenya (701) and South Africa (9,075) being the only African countries among the top 10 countries where Ugandans sought asylum between 2008 and 2012.(6) The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) indicates that there were a total of 12,786 Ugandan refugees globally in early 2016 even though no further information is available on their location.(7) As of 31 August 2016, there were 1,942 Ugandan refugees and asylum seekers registered in Kenya. This figure (Ugandan refugees in Kenya) has remained relatively stable over the past few years: 1,011 (2012) 1,121 (2013), 1,399 (2014) and 1,907 (2015).(8)

As a mixed migration destination country

Uganda features prominently as a country of destination for refugees and asylum seekers fleeing conflict or instability from neighbouring countries including South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia and Rwanda. According to UNHCR, there were a total of 665,040 refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda as of 31 August 2016, with approximately 50% originating from South Sudan.(9) (See detailed figures in the section on refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs below).

Apart from the refugees, Uganda also attracts economic and/or irregular migrants from DRC, South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi.(10) Kayunga district in Uganda hosts a high population of South Sudanese nationals and it is common for South Sudanese to cross the border into Uganda to visit relatives or seek short term employment. Kenyans also cross into Uganda via land borders or by crossing Lake Victoria and many are found in Entebbe, Namuwongo and Masindi. The presence of a thriving Somali business community in Uganda also attracts Somalis from Somalia, Kenya and the diaspora who migrate to Uganda to take advantage of rising business opportunities both in Uganda and neighbouring countries. Somalis living in Kenya are increasingly migrating to Uganda due to the growing pressure on Somali refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya and because of Uganda’s favourable refugee regime.(11)

Labour mobility to and from Uganda is expected to increase, particularly within the East Africa region due to the elimination of work visas for East African Community citizens, and Uganda’s economic growth and investment opportunities, especially in oil and infrastructure sectors (which may also attract more labour migrants from other parts of the world). Available data indicate that of all work permits (9,161) issued by Ugandan government in 2012/2013, 62.7% were issued to workers from select Asian countries e.g. India, China and Pakistan.(12)

Return migration is another feature of migration flow into Uganda. In July 2013, then president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete ordered an estimated 35,000 irregular migrants from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, who had lived in Tanzania for several decades, to leave the country by 11 August 2013(13) saying that the foreigners had taken Tanzania’s hospitality for granted to flout immigration and naturalization rules. This directive led to the return of an estimated 5,000 Ugandans to their country in 2013. The Ugandan government in June 2016 set up a taskforce to facilitate the resettlement of the returnees from temporary shelters in Sango Bay in Rakai to government land in Kyaka 1, Kyegegwa district.(14) Between 2000 and 2007, the Ugandan government also resettled more than 4,300 Ugandan returnees who had been expelled from Tanzania.(15)

Some of the Ugandan returnees who had been expelled from Tanzania in 2013. Photo credit: Paul Ampurire

As a mixed migration transit country

Uganda is a transit country for people being trafficked or smuggled from Asian countries to South Africa for work even though there is scanty information on how the journey is arranged and the networks or brokers involved in facilitating this movement.(16) In July 2015, a group of 20 Bangladeshi nationals who had been smuggled into Uganda, told authorities that they had been lured with promises of employment in South Africa. Ugandan authorities have indicated that Entebbe International Airport is a popular entry point for migrants from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan who then migrate onward often to South Africa.(17)

Refugees, Asylum-seekers and IDPs in Uganda

Uganda is one of the top refugee-hosting countries at position eight in the world and the third largest refugee-hosting county in Africa after Ethiopia and Kenya.(18) Refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda flee conflict and/or instability in neighbouring countries with the majority of the refugees coming from South Sudan. Other refugees and asylum seekers come from Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia and Rwanda. According to UNHCR, there were a total of 665,040 refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda as of 31 August 2016, with approximately 50% originating from South Sudan.(19)

The power struggle and conflict between the government and opposition forces in South Sudan in December 2013 led to massive displacement of South Sudanese nationals into neighbouring countries with the largest number fleeing to Uganda.

The influx of South Sudanese refugees into Uganda surged again from early July 2016 following heavy fighting that erupted in Juba on the eve of South Sudan’s fifth anniversary of independence between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to ousted deputy president Riek Machar. According to UNHCR, about 4,000 (20) South Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers were recorded entering Uganda on a daily basis immediately after conflict erupted in Juba and nearly 54,000 fled to Uganda in July 2016(21), a higher figure than total arrivals reported in the first six months of 2016 (or 33,838). Since renewed conflict erupted in South Sudan in July 2016, an estimated 95,331(22) refugees arrived in Uganda as of 28 August 2016 with the UNHCR indicating that the daily arrival rate of South Sudanese refugees into Uganda averaged 2,854 individuals in September 2016.(23)

UNHCR data on South Sudanese influx into Uganda indicate that 68% of the new arrivals are children below the age of 18 years, 89% of the new arrivals are women and children, with the elderly accounting for 2% of total arrivals. In addition, 46% of South Sudanese refugees arriving in Uganda are male while 54% are female.

The political crisis in Burundi which erupted in April 2015 following a disputed presidential election and later attempted coup has led to the displacement of more than 300,000 Burundians into neighbouring Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and Zambia. Burundian refugees mainly from Muyinga, Makamba, Cankuzo, Kirundo and Ruyigi provinces flee their country in search of protection from violence, threats, extra-judicial killings, abduction, torture and persecution in Burundi. According to UNHCR, Uganda hosted 41,938 refugees from Burundi as of August 2016, out of which 13,298 arrived in 2016. The agency has recorded a steady influx of between 1,000 and 3,000 Burundian refugees entering Uganda each month with most of the refugees being hosted in Nakivale settlement in southern Uganda and smaller numbers in Kampala, Kyaka and Oruchinga.(24)

The total refugee and asylum seeker population in Uganda, August 2016

Source: UNHCR

Unlike other countries in the region where refugees are placed in camps often with limited rights, Uganda has one of the most favourable refugee protection environments in the world, providing for freedom of movement, right to work, access to social services such as health and education and also providing land for refugee settlements in line with the Refugee Act of 2006 and the Refugee Regulations of 2010.(25) Refugees in Uganda are either self-settled mainly in urban areas or live in organized settlements and as such the government has declared lands as “officially gazetted” for refugees in some of the districts. In areas where land is not gazetted for refugees, the Office of the Prime Minister, Refugee Department (OPM) which is responsible for refugee affairs in Uganda, negotiates with the local communities to acquire land for usage by refugees. Congolese and South Sudanese refugees receive prima facie status, while other nationalities go through individual status determination.(26)

Uganda’s generous policy towards refugees has been hailed for other positive social and economic aspects. Improved relationships and peaceful co-existence between host communities and refugees has been reported in all settlements, more than 78% of refugees in rural settlements are engaged in productive agricultural activities with only 1% depending entirely on humanitarian assistance.(27) Refugees in Uganda contribute positively to the economy and many operate a variety of business enterprises such as bars, hair dressing, money transfer, transportation and also employ Ugandans. In Kampala for instance, 40% of workers employed by refugees are Ugandans while the refugee labour force participation rate (LFPR) is on average 38% compared with Uganda’s 74%.(28)

There are about fourteen large refugee settlements and eight refugee villages in the northern and western parts of Uganda. The majority of South Sudanese refugees have settled in Adjumani, Kiryandogo, Arua, recently opened Yumbe and some in Kampala.

Refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda as of 31 August 2016. Source: UNHCR

Internal displacement

Uganda attained independence in 1962 and in the following decades, the country experienced different patterns of forced displacement, both internally and out of the country mainly due to internal strife.(29) Between 1962 and 1986, the country was ruled by more than five regimes and this period was characterized by extensive abuse of human rights, insurgency, loss of lives and economic decline. During Idi Amin Dada’s rule (1971-1979), more than 300,000 Ugandans reportedly lost their lives.(30) The National Resistance Movement (NRM), led by Yoweri Museveni, the current president of Uganda, took over power in 1986 after a five year military conflict and has ruled the country since then.

Insurgency perpetrated by the militia group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony continued in the northern region and some parts of eastern Uganda for about 20 years after Museveni came into power.(31) The LRA emerged in 1987 against a historical background of antagonism and distrust between the Acholi (a people of northern Uganda and South Sudan) and politically-influential tribes of southern Uganda. The LRA sought to overthrow the government of President Museveni, protect Acholi culture and rule Uganda in accordance with the Ten Commandments.(32)

The conflict between the LRA and government forces caused massive displacement of populations as a result of LRA attacks on civilians and the government strategy, started in 1996, of forcibly relocating civilians into IDP camps or “protected villages” as officially described.(33) In 2005 in particular, more than 1.8 million people had been displaced into IDP camps in the Acholi and Lango region in northern Uganda. An unknown number of people fled to urban areas in other parts of Uganda. Clashes between the government and rebel movements, as well as intern-tribal violence and banditry also caused displacement of populations in other parts of Uganda in the 1990s and early 2000s.

In July 2006, peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government started in Juba, South Sudan, leading to the signing of a ceasefire agreement in August 2006 where warring parties agreed to cease all hostile military and other actions or propaganda directed against each other. The parties signed four other agreements between November 2006 and November 2007, even though they failed to sign the final peace agreement in April 2008.(34) Following the signing of the peace agreements, security improved in Uganda and today the country is largely peaceful. However, according to World Bank, the country continues to experience numerous challenges including corruption, underdeveloped democratic institutions and human rights related abuses.(35)

The majority of the IDPs returned to their areas of origin and the government officially closed most of the IDP camps, however about 30,000 IDPs are believed to remain in protracted displacement in IDP camps and are unable to return to their areas of origin for a number of reasons including age, illness or disability or lack of land to settle and inadequate recovery and development efforts in areas of return.(36)

Some displacement have been reported in recent years even though there are no readily available estimates of the number of people displaced. The recent displacement is mainly related to inter-communal violence, particularly in the border area between Uganda and South Sudan, clashes in northern district of Amuru in December 2012, and the threat of cattle rustling in and around Karamoja region, since Karamoja warriors started to use firearms introduced in the region.(37) Other causes of internal displacement in Uganda are disasters such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, drought, epidemics, crop failures and livestock diseases.(38) Government development and environmental conservations projects have also led to internal displacement in Uganda. For instance, a sugar cane plant and a game reserve planned in Amuru district resulted in forced evictions and protracted and unresolved land disputes. Oil discoveries in western Uganda have also led to large-scale land evictions with unofficial figures indicating that an estimated 30,000 people were evicted from 13 villages in the Lake Albertine rift basin to pave way for an oil refinery project.(39)

Protection issues and vulnerable groups

While Uganda has been praised for its welcoming policy towards refugees and asylum seekers, the UNHCR indicates that the recent influx of refugees from South Sudan, in a relatively short amount of time, is putting a strain on available resources required to provide adequate humanitarian response to refugees.(40) The situation is likely to get worse as an additional 110,000 South Sudanese refugees are expected to enter the country by the end of 2016, bringing the total to nearly 300,000 since conflict erupted afresh in July 2016.

Available data from UNHCR indicate that 68% of the new South Sudanese arrivals are children below the age of 18 years, 89% are women and children, with the elderly accounting for 2% of total arrivals. This presents distinct challenges especially in prevention and treatment of sexual and gender-based violence and child protection. Most refugee settlements are located in areas with high-prevalence of malaria and cholera incidents have been reported in a number of settlements due to factors such as congestion, poor hygiene and sanitation. Severe and chronic underfunding could further worsen humanitarian response with the UNHCR indicating that only 20% of the USD 701 million(41) required to provide adequate assistance to South Sudanese refugees in 2016 has been funded by donors, as the number of South Sudanese refugees displaced in the region hit the one million mark in September 2016.

Undocumented (female) migrants and internally displaced persons are also vulnerable to various forms of abuse in Uganda including abandonment, stigmatization, malnutrition and high probability of infection with communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted infections.(42) Undocumented Congolese women in Uganda are not effectively targeted by humanitarian assistance since they are not considered refugees or IDPs and as a result are highly vulnerable to engage in higher-risk activities such as sex work in addition to being exposed to emotional and physical violence.

Detention of migrants

Available information indicate that irregular (undocumented) migrants are detained and deported by Ugandan authorities. Between 2010 and 2012, an estimated 1,965 foreign nationals were arrested for unlawful presence in the country and out of these, about 608 were deported to their respective countries.(43)

Trafficking

The US Department of State’s 2016 Trafficking in Persons report places Uganda on Tier 2.(44) According to the report, Uganda is a source, transit and destination country for men, women and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking. Children from DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and South Sudan are subjected to forced agricultural labour and prostitution in Uganda. Ugandan children are also trafficked to other East African countries for similar purposes. Women and children from Uganda’s remote and under developed Karamoja region are vulnerable to domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation and forced begging. The UNHCR indicates that South Sudanese refugee children in northern Uganda settlements are vulnerable to trafficking.

Ugandan migrant workers, especially women, fraudulently recruited for employment in South Sudan and Middle East countries in UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia are subjected to forced prostitution, forced labour and physical violence. Uganda signed a bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia in July 2015 to send Ugandans to work in the country in an effort to counter high youth unemployment. Following the reports of inhuman treatment of Ugandan migrant workers, the Ugandan government banned the recruitment of domestic workers to the Middle East in January 2016 until working conditions were improved. However licensed and unlicensed recruitment agencies have circumvented this ban, often with complicity of government officials, by recruiting for cleaners and other trades with the intention of recruiting women in domestic work in Middle East.

Compliance: The government of Uganda does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, however it is making significant efforts to do so. The government maintained strong anti-trafficking law enforcements with increased efforts being recorded in 2015 to prosecute, convict and punish human trafficking related offenses.

Prosecution: Uganda’s anti-trafficking law prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes punishments of 15 years to life imprisonment. In 2015, the government of Uganda investigated 108 trafficking cases involving 347 victims. 15 prosecutions and three convictions were also recorded in the same reporting period. Ugandan authorities continue to cooperate with Rwanda, Kenya and South Sudan on human trafficking investigations however lack of funding hindered similar efforts at the international level.

Protection of trafficking victims: The State Department report indicates that the Ugandan government made modest efforts to prevent trafficking or protect trafficking victims. In partnership with NGOs, the Coordination Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (COCTIP) developed victim identification and assistance guidelines for child trafficking victims and plans are underway to develop a formal process to refer adult trafficking victims to protective services. The government in partnership with NGOs provided medical treatment, counselling assistance and transportation services to victims even though victim care remained inadequate with the government relying on NGOs to provide most of the services. The government implemented a national action plan to combat trafficking including national awareness campaigns on human trafficking and training for more than 224 law enforcement officials, social workers and civil aviation officers on human trafficking identification, case management, investigation, prosecution and protection.

International and national legislation and migration policies

Uganda has ratified the following international legislation relevant to mixed migration and protection of human rights of migrants and refugees:

1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol

1969 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

1976 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

1976 Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

1976 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

1987 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child

2002 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

2002 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

2003 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families

2003 United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

2003 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (signed but not yet ratified)

2004 Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (signed but not yet ratified)

2006 Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region, including its protocols on IDPs and the property rights of returnees

2008 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2008 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2010 International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (signed but not yet ratified)

2012 AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention)

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